<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222aa9c7e80680e0c030cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4000" height="3000"/><figcaption>Photo: BISHISHTA RAI</figcaption></figure>In another sign that things might be returning to normal after the long pandemic closure, Kathmandu is hosting a Thai food festival.Before the pandemic, Bangkok was among the most popular tourism destinations for Nepalis holidaying abroad. It was Thai International that started the first regular jet service to Kathmandu, and many Burmese of Nepali descent live and work in Thailand.Although Thai International has not resumed its Kathmandu-Bangkok flights after the pandemic, Nepal Airlines has. And there is talk of the Thai Smile budget airline starting flights to Kathmandu and Bhairawa.In a another sign of revival, Soaltee Hotel has invited Chef Pairaj Polgeng to Nepal to lead a 16-day food festival at the Bao Xuan restaurant, and he brings back the authentic taste of Thailand to Nepal.“Thai food is aromatic, spicy and tasty,” explains Polgeng. “In one bite you can taste everything – the galangal, lemongrass, coconut, chilies, and it is a burst of taste.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222ad9c7e80680e0c030djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="784" height="880"><figcaption>Photo: BISHISHTA RAI</figcaption></figure>Polgeng has also brought with him the genuine ingredients including Kaffir lime, Thai chilies, galangal and pandan leaves some of which he uses to make several dishes including the highlight of the demonstration night, Gaeng Keow Wan Kai which is green Thai chicken curry.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222b09c7e80680e0c030ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1620" height="1080"><figcaption>Photos: Soaltee Hotel</figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222b39c7e80680e0c030fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1619" height="1080"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222b79c7e80680e0c0310jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1620" height="1080"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222ba9c7e80680e0c0311jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4000" height="3000"><figcaption>Photo: BISHISHTA RAI</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222bd9c7e80680e0c0312jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4000" height="3000"><figcaption>Photo: BISHISHTA RAI</figcaption></figure>The curry presented on a ceramic bowl is shiny green, steaming, creamy accompanied with aroma, taste and fragrance of spices and coconut milk. The meat is coarsely chopped and strewn in a sauce that mixes hot and sweet flavors. Neither taste is overlapping, every bite is a burst of flavour: the lime, the aftertaste of palm sugar, and enough chili to gulp down more water. Yet leaving everyone wanting for more.The fact that many of the ingredients cannot be found in Nepal and that the real stuff is used, as well as the addition of Nepali touches to the presentation also give the dishes a unique selling point.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222c19c7e80680e0c0313jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="4000"><figcaption>Green Curry. Photo: BISHISHTA RAI</figcaption></figure>Chef Polgeng who has over three decades of experience working with reputed international hotels in Muscat and Dubai was in his element preparing and sharing over 35 full-flavoured dishes bringing Kathmandu closer to the expansive gastronomic culture of Thailand.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222c59c7e80680e0c0314jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1621" height="1080"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222c89c7e80680e0c0315jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1620" height="1080">The Thai Food Festival has returned to Soaltee after a two year long hiatus following the pandemic during which the organisers found that more people were eager to try this Southeast Asian cuisine than ever before.“We realised many people wanted to try Thai food but we are not bringing just any Thai food but authentic dishes prepared by a Thai chef,” says Pratiksha Basnet at Soaltee.Some of the dishes participants got to try include the Tom Yum Goong, Som Tum which is the famed raw papaya salad, Prawn Cake, Chicken Pandan Leaf, Pad Thai and everyone’s favourite dessert mango sticky rice and banana coconut milk, to name a few.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222cc9c7e80680e0c0316jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1620" height="1080">The all-time favourite Tom Yum Goong is another popular show stealer, made from scratch with original ingredients that complement each other. The hot and sour soup was red, vibrant and flavourful.For those who cannot handle their spice, there was an option of Kaeng Lueang, a yellow Thai curry which exudes a creamy richness, and is mild and soothing to the tongue. The curry made with lemongrass, yellow chili, coriander and other ingredients goes well with the fried rice. But the best part of the meal is the gentle coconut flavor infused in the dishes.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114121112/637222cf9c7e80680e0c0317jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1619" height="1080">One could happily pack a meal entirely made of snacks too – spicy chicken Thai salad, chicken pandan leaf, stir-fried chicken, Pad Thai and fried rice.The popular papaya salad isrefreshing, sweet and tangy. The chicken, tender and fried lightly in oyster sauce, tastes of white pepper and mild garlic. The pad Thai noodles have sprouts and hence a slight crunch. The noodles and fried rice, not as loaded with fresh hot chilies as other dishes, go well with the curry.From Tom Yum to Gaeng Keow Wan Kai, it is the honesty and love in this lavish feast that makes Chef Polgeng's visit such a gastronomic delight.Till 2 July, 7pm-10.45pm, Bao Xuan Restaurant, Soaltee Hotel, KathmanduRead more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kathmandus-own-eataly/">Kathmandu’s own ‘Eataly’</a>, Sonia Awale

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Thai cuisine returns to Kathmandu

<figure><img width="1000" height="667" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692e989c7e80680e03c05djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Thai cultural dance performance by students</figcaption></figure>Inside the new <a href="https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ktmfi-fairfield-kathmandu/">Fairfield by Marriott</a> in Thamel, there are traditional Thai umbrellas, lanterns and purple orchids, Thai folk instrumentals play gently in the background, and there is an aroma of coconut and lemon grass, and there are people in traditional Thai attire milling about. The ambience takes us directly to Thailand. For those from Kathmandu not going to Thailand this holiday season, Fairfield by Marriott is bringing Thailand to Kathmandu this week and next through a culinary extravaganza at its Kava Restaurant. Tapping into the<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/where-are-you-going-this-dasain/"> popularity of Thailand as Nepalis’ top vacation destination</a> and the growing interest in Thai culture, the hotel has organised a taste of Thailand.  <figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692e9b9c7e80680e03c05ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The 10-day long food festival is led by Chef Kroongtana Nimnu  who also goes by the name Chef Cĥāng (meaning elephant in Thai) and has been promoting his country’s cuisine all over the world, working with reputed international hotels chains like Royal Angkor Silk Hotel, Le Meridian and Westin for the past 20 years.  <figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692e9e9c7e80680e03c05fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ea19c7e80680e03c060jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This time he is in Nepal to prepare and share Thai dishes from the common Tom Yum Goong (spicy shrimp soup) to Tom Kha Kai (coconut based chicken soup), Kao Na Phet (duck with rice), Som Tum (raw papaya salad), Pad Thai, Gaeng Keow Wan Kai (green Thai chicken curry) and dessert options like sweet sticky rice, egg custard, and many more. Just rolling those Thai names makes one salivate.    “Thai cuisine is a mixture of Indian and Chinese food culture. It is not very similar to Nepali cuisine, but Nepalis have developed a taste for Thai food”, says Chef Cĥāng. “My menu respects the food culture here, so it does not incorporate too much meat.”  <figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ea49c7e80680e03c061jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ea69c7e80680e03c062jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This is first time Chef Cĥāng is promoting Thai gastronomy in Nepal and has brought along the key Thai ingredients like galangal and Kaffir lime which are not available in the Nepali market. But some ingredients like fermented bamboo shoots (tama) have been sourced from the local market. Chef Cĥāng uses this sour item to make Gang Ped Kai (red chicken curry with fermented bamboo shoots).Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/dus-din-dilli-ke/">Dus Din Dilli Ke</a>, Sikuma Rai <figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ea99c7e80680e03c063jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The first day of the festival was inaugurated by General Manager Sanjeev Mandal and Thai Ambassador to Nepal Bhakavat Tansku, and was attended by ambassadors of Myanmar and Singapore, Thai Airways Country Manager Peerapong Jutaganoon, and Hotel Annapurna General Manager Raju Bikram Shah. A cultural dance performance by Thai students added colour to the event.With warm hospitality, a talented culinary team, Fairfield hopes the festival will bring a memorable gourmet dining experience to Kathmandu. 30 September- 9 October, 6:30-10:30pm, Kava Restaurant, Fairfield by Marriott, Thamel, Rs2,199 (nett), (01) 4217999 <img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692eab9c7e80680e03c064jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692eae9c7e80680e03c065jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692eb19c7e80680e03c066jpeg.jpg" alt="">

Taste of Thailand

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

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